December 31, 2001

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM
Teasing Scriptures
___In "Is laughter holy?" (Dec. 3), Mark Biddle says Rebekah "fell off her camel" when she saw Isaac relieving himself (Genesis 24:63-67).
___How could anyone in their right mind come up with something like that? There is a lot of difference in meditating and urin

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ating.
___I am disturbed to think someone like that is teaching preachers. Who does he think he is to "tease" Scriptures like that?
___ Linda Blair
___ Lubbock

Hands-on witness
___I spent a weekend hunting pheasants in our community with a couple of fellows from West Texas. Lloyd Taylor, a Mission Service Corps worker with River Ministry, whose wife is Phyllis, of Van Horn was one of them.
___I met Lloyd several years ago, after former River Ministry director Elmin Howell visited our church. After learning Lloyd needed boer goats to upgrade Mexican herds, we helped him acquire them.
___Now, he comes hunting every December and takes a truckload of "junk for Jesus" back with him, which he rebuilds and distributes among 183 churches and pastors in an area about the size of New Mexico, from Juarez about 300 miles south to Torreon, then east all the way to Eagle Pass.
___This trip, he took three tractors, a church van and a pickup. His friend, Glen Reinhart, who operates three auto stores and assists Lloyd with parts and mission trips, drove a pickup with a trailer. Others who help with acquiring junk and with work in Mexico include folks from Buffalo, Aledo and many other places.
___Lloyd has found that the Mexican folks are doing things on their own. One church has started a mission, and one pastor has come to Van Horn, picked up a van, taken it back and repaired it.
___This work is probably doing more to witness for Christ and help these people to be self-sufficient, thereby keeping them from being illegal aliens in our country, than any other work by anyone.
___ Clark Andrews
___ Hereford

Fruitcake for books
___I love fruitcake and just received one in the mail. It is yet unopened. However, I will gladly send it to the gentleman who wrote a letter (Dec. 17) indicating he would rather have received a fruitcake than the two copies he received of Paul Pressler's book, "A Hill on Which to Die."
___If he will send me the two books, I'll send him the cake. I have friends who would love to have a copy of the book.
___ Richard B. Blair
___ Fort Worth

Real agenda
___I am so glad to see that so many people will be getting a copy of "A Hill on Which to Die." As a layman having taken responsibilities in churches where we have lived for more than 55 years, I encourage those who receive this book to study, not just read, the book, especially chapters 17-22.
___Throughout this book, it appears that a small group calling themselves "conservative" and "conservative resurgence" found a loophole by which they could, by political and legal maneuvering, take over committees, agencies and boards of trustees and refuse what they called "liberals" to participate.
___I hope this action will not cause a wider rift between Christians but will bring to light the real agenda of fundamentalists.
___Could we somehow return to a denomination of sincere compassion and a real love for each other instead of political struggle and a loss of our witness to a world that cannot hear us above the noise of our wrangling?
___ Thomas Johnson
___ Houston

Take out trash
___I am appalled that Baptists in general and some in particular even allow such "trash" as the recent articles in the Review & Expositor relating sexual expressions to the Lord.
___It is difficult at times to show that Baptists are still a conservative group. I can only hope that the people I come in contact with do not get or read the articles about this matter. I am also bothered that some well-known names within Baptist circles are attached to the material as editors.
___I would plead with those who allow their names to be used as emeritus editors or such other titles to be more involved and more conservative.
___It makes it extremely difficult when we out here in the trenches are trying to show the Baptists in general are serious about the Bible as the true source of the abundant life that Jesus offers.
___ Bob Civil
___ Tucumcari, N.M.

God's man
___As David Crutchley's administrative assistant for the past 18 months, I have observed his performance and character as dean (Dec. 10). I saw an administrator, leader and one who loved students.
___He was an administrator with a vision. At the beginning of his term, he enthusiastically set forth his goals and action plans for the next five years. I know he accomplished significant goals and approached his task as dean with a sense of purpose and as an appointment by God.
___In addition, he led with consistency and wisdom. I witnessed him nurture and encourage each of his faculty and staff, recognizing their value as part of a team. I observed a compassionate leader whose door was always open to any need. He made every effort to address each concern, from the simplest to the complex, justly and equitably.
___He was never too busy for students, and their problems were important to him. Most weeks, he mentored students over a "brown bag" lunch in his office. They loved and respected him as a role model.
___I felt from the beginning that David Crutchley was God's man for the hour and that he had the strength and passion to be dean in every sense of the word. I thank God for the privilege of having worked for a person with his integrity and character.
___ Fran Wilson
___ Fort Worth

Kudos for integrity
___Kudos to David Crutchley for the integrity he has shown while being treated so terribly at Southwestern Seminary.
___As a former Southwestern student--and one who transferred after the firing of Russell Dilday--I would like to thank Miles Seaborn for being clear about the long-term plans for the seminary. He was less than straightforward back in 1994 when the trustees locked a good man--Dilday--out of his office and told him to pack his bags.
___President Ken Hemphill and his overseers are correct: Professor Crutchley has no place at Southwestern Seminary. Along with those professors who have gone before him and been treated poorly in the name of God and theological inbreeding, he has too much integrity to remain at such a place. He saw through the wide smiles and a dressed-up demotion.
___May God bless him and his family's travels.
___ Alan Wright
___ Irving

Harsh temperament
___Responding to Miles Seaborn statements concerning Southwestern Seminary: The real bankruptcy of people who impose their own fundamentalism is that they react from a harsh temperament.
___There is a spirit of lovelessness and strife contributed by many in the fundamental leadership in the recent past. One of the ironies of contemporary church history is that the more fundamentalists stress lockstep positions as a theme in their churches, the more a spirit of lovelessness seems to prevail.
___The theological conflict with supposed moderates and liberals has deteriorated into an attack upon organizations and personalities. This is evident with the recent issues concerning David Crutchley at Southwestern.
___Historically, fundamentalism was a theological position. The movement gradually came to signify a mood and disposition as well. The label of being a moderate means one's theology is discredited as a perversion of the scriptural theology. On the other hand, fundamentalism in the contemporary expression stands discredited as a perversion of the biblical spirit.
___I found David Crutchley, along with many other professors at Southwestern, to be a man who was humble and sincere and loved the Lord with all his heart, soul and might. The railing accusations of some are without foundation. Their lack of love and understanding is reminiscent of the attitude of the Pharisees.
___ Jerry Rogers
___ Lewisville


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